You can ring my bel canto
Since last night marked the debut of history’s newest and perkiest interpreter of the role of Norma, and (more to the point) since Bellini’s druid priestess will grace the woods of Katonah, NY during the month of July, La Cieca thought it would be exciting to organize a YouTube competition on the theme of bel canto. The very special prize to the winner of this week’s competition: a pair of tickets (complete with transportation) to the Bel Canto at Caramoor presentation of Norma on July 16. Your task, cher public, is to find and to embed a YouTube clip that illustrates or embodies the meaning of “bel canto.” Entries will be judged both on the musical quality of the clip and on your introductory paragraph explaining to us why and how this clip is a sterling example of the art of bel canto.
The contest will close on Monday, July 5 at midnight. The commenter who posts the clip and comment La Cieca judges the best (and her whim is final!) will receive a pair of tickets of the July 16 performance of Norma at Caramoor plus a pair of passes on the Caramoor Caravan departing from the Grand Central Station area at 4:00 pm and returning after the opera.
And now, a singer who has been ringing La Cieca’s bel canto for several seasons now, joyous Joyce DiDonato. In this selection, she perfectly balances the technical control necessary to bel canto (long breath, smooth legato, seamlessly blended registers) with the musicianship and emotion required to bring the piece to vivid life. In particular, note the aggressive vocal attacks on the strong rhythms of the main theme of the cabaletta, bordering on the declamatory but always within the context of a breath-supported legato.
So, cher public, let’s hear it from you: what is bel canto and who can show us how to do it?
THEY’RE ALIVE!!The Maria Callas bashers are still ALIVE. (COMMENTS 15.3 27.1) In my youth (a long time ago), I heard the same venom against Maria—her downscale work (whatever the hell that is) is laughable; she’s strident; she’s out of tune; her singing reflects how miserable she is as a human being; she dresses funny; she really can’t act and she can only play the diva, etc. YES, I’ve heard all the arguments against her and her art. In fact, in the late 1950s and early 1960s when as a little “opera princess” who was completely devoted to Callas all that I could do was retreat to my basement bedroom armed with an arm-full of Callas recordings and try and find some comfort. (One really, at that time, could not say in “mixed” company, that one was devoted to Maria Callas without receiving heaps of scorn)
When I finally escaped my cocoon and especially after Maria’s death, guess what? I could speak her name in public and find those in agreement with me (as on this blog) that she was and through her recordings DEVINE truly defining what makes opera so damn exciting. Maria IS opera!!
Wow! Steady!
I thought part of the fun of being a Callas head back in the day *was* the whole misfit identity. Kind of like being one of those intense Lady Gaga fans right now. Maria was a glamarous outsider and so she let a whole generation of opera queens who felt like outsiders feel special, like they had something uniquely theirs that others didn’t “understand.” Now most opera fans have at the very least an intellectual appreciation for Callas, making the bashing post you cited really in the minority. I think its harder for the Callas heads out there to move on from the persecution complex than it is for the vast majority of the opera loving public to acknowledge the greatness of Maria Callas.
Don’t call her name, don’t call her name, Callasorphan…..
However, for a nerdy kid that also was gay (horrors!) it was not too much fun to be in love with someone that you never heard a kind word for–yes, all I needed was the burning stake with operatic chorus. Ah teenage days in the 1950s were hell.
Gollee, Neo, you make Maria Callas sound like the
Judy Garland of opera singers. What a fate!!
Heh, well is that such a bad comparison? Wildly talented, controversial, penchant for failure and triumph, unable to find lasting love. I happen to be more of a Streisand/Price kind of queen myself, i.e. divas who work real hard to seem as if they have it 100% together vs. those who shared everything with us. But I can totally appreciate what makes the Callas/Judy thing tick.
I adore Price too. So does that make me kinda normal? (I DON’T want to be normal)
Orphan, I’ll defend to the death your right to view Callas
as you do, and sometimes, such as when I listen to her
first recoding of Tosca, I am right there seventh row
center with you.
But, do me a favor, and yourself a bigger favor, and
read Michael Scott’s book on Callas, if you have not
already. His arms-length, mature and fair account
seems to me best by far of the appraisals of the
famous Greek-American singer. Hope you agree.
The late Anglo-American critic, Henry Pleasants, also
had some interesting things to say.
JIM
santa fe
Thank you for the suggestion. I am afraid that it is too late for me (La Traviata anyone?) I don’t expect anyone to agree with my adoration of her (unlike in my youth) I’ve even learned to be tolerant of those that just don’t get her. (ain’t that big of me?) I am just very glad that she was/is such a major part of my life.
Callas Orphan,
With a singer like Callas you will always have detractors. She is controversial just because she divides people for all the reasons you know so well. I personally love her recordings, but when I first got into opera to be honest I bought the Lisbon Traviata and didn’t “get” her. Compared to my Sutherland Traviata recording she didn’t sound very beautiful to my ears. But then I bought her 1954 Norma and fell in love and bought all her other recordings and that was that. I think Callas might be an acquired taste for some, and they are too impatient to acquire the taste. Now I like the Lisbon Traviata b/c I hear the portrayal, etc. but when I first started listening to opera I was expecting pleasing sounds, because Sutherland was the first opera diva on records that I listened to……I thought everyone was supposed to sound like Sutherland. In my opinion anyone who has spent any time listening to Callas recordings has to admit that she was unique and had a talent with words through singing. She is so alert to the text unlike anyone else, and I do believe her 50s voice was beautiful, although some people disagree. I would love to know whether the detractors have spent a lot of time actually listening to Callas recordings. It would amaze me if they did and they still disliked her.
Nonsense!! Attack filthy wladek at the least provocation – to the barricades!
This was meant to be a tag to Betsy’s “Wow! Steady!”
I finally got around to listening to the Di Donato clip with which La Cieca started this thread. My goodness, that woman gets better and better! We are lucky to have a singer like her today who can stand up so well with the greats of the past.
For me Marilyn Horne has always been the embodiment of Bel Canto. I adore Callas, respect Sutherland and Caballe and a host of other great singers, but for my money Marilyn had the best technique and vocal production. By accident in the 80′s I was taken to Norma with Sutherland and Horne, and then Semiramide with Caballe and Horne. Those performances ignited my life long love for Rossini and Bellini. Her incredible breath control and ability to execute coloratura at lightning fast speed with complete accuracy was astonishing. While she wasn’t a ground breaking actress, she understood her roles and brought commitment to everything she did. I love how she plays with vocal colorings in her different registers, and the dark hued timbre always made me wonder if she would nail the final (often an interpolated Bb or B) high note after singing with such strength. She always did. The last time I heard her live was at her 60th Birthday at Carnegie Hall, and she still had that gorgeous line and warm tone. These two examples show her in her prime, and in this rep I find her unmatched (at least in my generation).
Even prior to the nose job, the camera loves her, and the voice is pure gold.
And frankly, for me, no one spun a more beautiful cantilena than she did.
I get the feeling that if there were a ‘Who is the best Sarastro?’ thread your answer would be Anna Moffo…
She was also a fine Monastatos
And this next clip is not only amazing coloratura but amazing camel toe…
Since I’m geographically and temporally unavailable for the prize, I feel free to throw caution, as well as timidity, to the winds, and submit this Recipient of Many Parterrean Brickbats to your viewing/listening judgement.
Although I’ve learned a lot about legato and phrasing and skillful employment of registers on this thread and others, what strikes me most in this Diva’s performance is her penetrating, powerful interpretation, shifting into different gears of meaning as the music and words demand.
For me, what can be an entertaining show piece, becomes drama.
So ahead and get your arrows primed. I am the son of Guillaume Tell (whatever his name is) and the only thing you’ll hit is my apple. Not my Apple iMac, of course, just the fruit.
I agree with you that it’s first-rate.
She owns this role. This video reminds me how much I missed her in the recent Hamlet at the Met. Petersen was like a tasty dish without any salt and pepper.
She is soooooooooo marvelous in this.
she really makes this into more than just showcase. This is the role she will be remembered for. (among others)
No brickbats from me!!! Her Morgana at Chicago Lyric is burnt in my brain. This clip does not do it justice, but has to do:
Since I’m at it, though, this is true bel canto to be. In fact, bel everything:
Clip 1: More delight! I can’t resist adding that many, perhaps most, Parterreans would envy her performance here–though for reasons not entirely musical.
Clip 2: What a combination of joy and heartache. Bel everything, indeed. Voice, features, hands, artistry, and that rarest, most glowing gift of all, her unnameable inner light.
This clip has no competitors on this thread or anywhere else because here LHL transcends competition and gives us and audiences far into the future a perpetual gift that, more than any monument or prize, will keep her memory alive forever.
Thank you so much. I will return to this often, whenever I need reminding of what the greatest art can do, reveal to us a glimpse of the reality that is greater than our minds can ever comprehend.
And thank you, Lorraine, who now rest in that reality beyond all time. Lux Pertpetua Luceat Tibi.
I am late to the party, but here is my contribution. Disclaimer: I really wanted to balance the field of belle bel canto with a good baritone, but revisiting the baritones that were true belcantists in my memory, I realized that they were pale compared to the ladies that I selected.
I selected the following clips because they show that a solid bel canto technique allows the singer to present it with such ease that they can add anything they want dramatically and interpretatively to the piece.
First: Caballe -- for her incredible legato and pianissimi, and for the dramatic spin that comes so natural and with so little effort:
Second: Agnes Baltsa, she did not define bel canto, unfortunatelly, but this shows that she could’ve. She does have the vocal agility to carry crazy coloratura very well, big range, and big voice. Probably her big voice made her greedy for heavier repertoire.
And, for bonne bouche, our muse for this contest, Joyce DiDonato. Because she shows us that bel canto, Rossini, opera is so much fun and so cool.
I remember when the Baltsa item was telecast. It was from a gala in Vienna. Her dress has a metallic sheen to it and I was mesmerized watching her breathing. The lighting catches the sheen of the dress and she looks a bit like a bellows inflating and deflating.
Sorry for the somewhat tacky comment. Baltsa sang very well in this, at the time she seemed like a coloratura mezzo.
That is so great, the youtube clip is not such high quality to catch that. No apologies needed richard , I am so happy that we have this parterre floor to share our preferences, and to learn from everybody’s experiences, as my own opera knowledge is extremly limited, and mostly revolves around some recordings and youtube.
I saw Baltsa In Cenerentola with Rockwell Blake at LOC in the 80s and she was stupendous. And her recording of Barbiere with Araiza (?) was terrific as well. As for Caballe…
Wow, Sanford, to me this is the epitome of Norma, and Caballe is “the Norma” of all times, the phrasing, breath control, legato…. Plus, being an open air performance, with Mistral blowing, it looks like it could’ve been the real Norma, from 50 BC. So great, thank you.
This has been my favorite opera video since getting the Japanese laser disk 20 years ago. I can’t resist adding this scene:
Caballe really “cooks” in this performance–wow!!
I posted the first one already if you scroll back to the first comments. You will want to go through all the videos, b/c everyone is posting interesting items.
I love her!!
According to what I read on Youtube, it was so windy the night of the L’Orange Norma that management wanted to cancel, but Caballe insisted they go on. And she really works the scarf.
Just out of curiosity, DrugProduct, are you over the counter or recreational?
She does work the scarf very well. I wonder though how was it heard live, how the wind was carrying, or not, the sound. Must’ve been quite a show.
FYI, I’ve heard that although the soundtrack is from a single performance, the visuals include shots from additional ones (presumably they had a limited number of cameras and wanted to shoot from multiple angles), explaining some minor continuity and synchronization problems that intermittently occur.
In her biography the night at L’Orange is considered to be Caballe’s best vocal night of her life even by her. She was simply “on” that night. I’m so glad it was captured on video, because it is the best Norma on video. It shows what everyone is lacking in the role.
This clip of Edita Gruberova from the mid 1980s, singing the lesson scene from BARBIERE, is to my mind how to use coloratura in both a brilliant and comical way. Rosina is a sly minx, nobody’s fool, yet most sopranos play her cute and coy. Watch Gruberova’s deft comic flair: her Rosina is charmingly insolent, cat-that-swallowed-the-canary cheeky -- and watch how she takes a cadenza up to a high F -- and holds it -- and how she has the character looking around to see if the others are watching. Look at her bows to the audience at the end -- part Gruberova, part Rosina to the hilt.
It’s really hard to find fault with either her singing or her acting. So I won’t.
This clip is from I Puritani in Lisbon, 1996. This is one of Gruberova’s specialties in the opera: “Vieni al tempio” is actually a kind of mad scene. You hear the fundamentals of bel canto in her singing: the ability to begin notes softly, and to contour the phrases to convey a very mournful sadness; the way she ‘drops’ the descending scale to impart a sinking emotion. Hear at 4:57 a perfectly executed messa-di-voce -- onto the sighing, wistful close.